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"Video Killed the Radio Star" is a song by the British synthpop/New Wave group The Buggles, released as their debut single on 7 September 1979, on Island Records from their debut album The Age of Plastic. It celebrates the golden days of radio, describing a singer whose career is cut short by television. The song topped the music chart in several countries and has been covered by many recording artists. It was the first music video shown on MTV in the U.S. at 12:01am on 1 August 1981. The song was number 40 on VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80's.

Background

Group member Trevor Horn has said that his lyrics were inspired by the J. G. Ballard short story "The Sound-Sweep", in which the title character—a mute boy vacuuming up stray music in a world without it—comes upon an opera singer hiding in a sewer. He also felt "an era was about to pass." The theme of the song is thus nostalgia, which is also echoed in the tone of the music. (The vocals are initially limited in bandwidth, giving a "telephone" effect typical of early broadcasts.) The lyrics refer to a period of technological change in the 1960s, the desire to remember the past and the disappointment that children of the current generation would not appreciate the past. In the 1950s and early 1960s, radio was an important medium for many, through which "stars" were created.

The song was written by Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley. Horn has claimed that Woolley was primarily responsible for the musical content, while Horn wrote most of the words. Woolley was responsible for the addition of the words 'put the blame on VTR'. The first version was recorded by Woolley & the Camera Club (with Thomas Dolby on keyboards) for his album English Garden, which was a hit in Canada. The Buggles later recorded the song and it reached number one in the UK charts the week of 20 October 1979, the first-ever number one for the Island Records label. It also would top the Australian charts, and made the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, debuting on 10 November 1979, and peaking at number 40.

Other media

It appears on the album The Age of Plastic, where it has an additional piano coda. The complicated arrangement and production of the song, which includes a chorus sung by a group of very high-pitched backup singers, foreshadows Horn's later career as a producer.

It appears on the soundtrack for Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and in the game itself. The song is now on the video game "Just Dance 3".

The song is used twice in Sarah Polley's 2011 film "Take this Waltz"; once midway through, and again during the closing scene. It is played as an accompaniment to the Scrambler ride in Toronto's Center Island.

Live performances

A rare live performance of the song by Horn and Downes came at a ZTT showcase in 1998. In 2004, The Buggles re-united again with Bruce Woolley at Wembley Arena to perform "Video Killed the Radio Star" and "Living in the Plastic Age" as part of a tribute event to Horn to raise money for the Prince's Trust charity. They were joined by Debi Doss and Linda Jardim (now Linda Allan), who performed the background singing on the original recording. Paul Robinson, who played drums on the original, also appeared. Both Horn and Downes have performed the song live in other acts, including Yes (which Downes and Horn joined for the Drama album and tour in 1980), Downes in the 2006–2009 revival of Asia with John Wetton on lead vocals, and Horn in his band The Producers, also in 2006.

In November 2006, The Producers played at their first gig in Camden Town. A video clip can be seen on the ZTT Records of Horn singing lead vocals and playing bass in a performance of "Video Killed the Radio Star". Tina Charles appears on a YouTube video singing 'Slave to the Rhythm' with The Producers <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pi5wNLcPlw> and Horn reveals that Tina was the singer and originator of the "Oh Ah-Oh Ah-Oh" part of 'Video'; fellow 5000 Volt member Martin Jay was also a session musician on The Buggles record.

Robbie Williams performed the song with Trevor Horn at the BBC Electric Proms on 20 October 2009.

Since 2010, Horn has performed "Video" with both the Buggles and his new band, Producers. Since 2011, he has added new vocals to his live performance before the song's final chorus:

Video killed the radio star,
He hit him on the head with his old guitar,
He tried to run away, but didn't get far,
That's how video killed the radio star

Music video

The music video for the song, helmed by the Australian director Russell Mulcahy, first released in 1979. Hans Zimmer can be seen playing a keyboard; Debi Doss and Linda Jardim, who provided the female vocals for the song, are also seen. It is best known as marking the debut of MTV, when the U.S. channel started broadcasting at 12:01 AM on 1 August 1981. On 27 February 2000, it became the one-millionth video to be aired on MTV. It also opened MTV Classic in the UK and Ireland, which replaced VH1 Classic on 1 March 2010, at 6 AM. The video marked the closing of MTV Philippines before its shutdown on 15 February 2010 at 11:49 PM.

Chart performance

Cover versions

The Presidents of the United States of America version

In 1998, the alternative rock band, The Presidents of the United States of America, released a version of "Video Killed the Radio Star" for The Wedding Singer soundtrack. The song was also released as a one-track single. The song later appeared on the band's compilation Rarities.

Chart performance

Other cover versions

Popular culture

The song is heavily sampled in the 2010 single, "Check It Out" by will.i.am and Nicki Minaj

The song is featured in the film, Take Me Home Tonight starring an ensemble cast with Topher Grace and Anna Farris.

The song is featured in the 2002 videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as part of the soundtrack to the radio station Flash FM.

In 2009, Robbie Williams titled his eighth album Reality Killed the Video Star The album was produced by Trevor Horn. Robbie also performed the song live in the BBC Electric Proms that year, with Horn playing bass.

Drop Dead, Gorgeous included (The) Internet Killed the Video Star on their 2009 release The Hot n' Heavy

On 2 August 2011, Jay Leno aired a short video of Jersey Shore Killed the Video Star on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

See also

Suggested reading

• The Jazz Singer is a 1927 U.S. film notable for being the first "talking motion picture" to be widely commercially distributed.
• Singin' in the Rain is a musical film that explores the transition from silent film to sound film.
• Sunset Boulevard explores how sound film and television led to the demise of films and silent stars.
• "Radio Ga Ga", a single by Queen, also laments the demise of radio as the primary mass medium.

No. 1 chart lists

• List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1970s
• List of number-one hits of 1979 (Switzerland)
• List of number-one singles from the 1970s (UK)
• List of European number-one hits of 1980
• List of Swedish number-one hits

References

1. ^ "BPI Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. Note: User needs to enter "Buggles" in the "Search" field, "Artist" in the "Search by" field and click the "Go" button. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
2. "100 Greatest One Hit Wonders Of The 80s: Read the List". Blog.vh1.com. 1 April 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
3. Hodgkinson, Will (5 November 2004). "Horn of Plenty". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
4. ^ Warner, Timothy (2003-06). Pop music: technology and creativity : Trevor Horn and the digital revolution. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 46. ISBN 978-0-7546-3132-3. Retrieved 22 March 2011. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Cite error: The named reference "Warner2003" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
5. Schoenberg, Richard; Sutton, Seattle (2004-02). Seventy-Nine/Eighty. Only Easy Day Was Yesterday. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-9748208-0-4. Retrieved 22 March 2011. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
6. "[GTA VC] Flash FM- Buggles - Video killed the radio star". YouTube. 1 August 2008. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
7. Gig review: The Buggles
8. http://www.martinjay.co.uk/index_website/
9. BBC Electric Proms Setlist Retrieved October 2009
10. "Video Killed the Radio Star - The Buggles Live 2011". YouTube. 28 September 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
11. "the Buggles - "Video killed the radio star"". mvdbase.com. 1 August 1981. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
12. Debi Doss – '70's Rock Archive Photographs
13. The Buggles (Biography) MTV
14. Dehnart, A. "Who really killed the video star?". Salon.com, 2000
15. Positions @ Finnish-charts.com Retrieved September 2009
16. "InfoDisc : Tout les Titres par Artiste". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
17. "Young London on PureVolume". Purevolume.com. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
18. "BBC - Electric Proms - Robbie Williams". BBC. Retrieved 17 January 2012.

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• 1979 singles
• The Buggles songs
• The Presidents of the United States of America songs
• Debut singles
• European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles
• Number-one singles in Australia
• Number-one singles in Austria
• Number-one singles in Italy
• Number-one singles in Sweden
• Number-one singles in Switzerland
• Oricon International Singles Chart number-one singles
• UK Singles Chart number-one singles
• Music videos directed by Russell Mulcahy
• Songs produced by Trevor Horn
• Songs written by Geoff Downes
• Songs written by Trevor Horn
• Songs written by Bruce Woolley
• Songs about television
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• English-language songs